An overview of enhanced polymer solar cells with embedded plasmonic nanoparticles

Abstract

In recent times, several strategies have been developed to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of thin-film polymer or organic solar cells (PSCs or OSCs). One of such strategy is the plasmonic effect, which has been widely investigated and has shown potential applications in PSCs' fabrication technology. Using this strategy, metal nanoparticles (MNPs) such as Au and/or Ag NPs are embedded in the active layer or buffer layer, or at the interface of these two layers to improve light absorption, generation of hole-charge carriers, and transport of these charge carriers, thus increasing the photocurrent in PSCs. This review elucidates the fundamental aspects of plasmonic-enhanced solar cells and clarifies some of the technical challenges that need to be overcome to improve PCE. The best position, size, and shape of nanoparticles particularly Au NPs and Ag NPs to drastically improve the efficiency of diverse geometries and design approaches were reviewed. This study infers from the reviewed publications that larger NPs scatter light in the photoactive layer due to their large scatter cross-sections, while smaller NPs improve the absorption of light in the photoactive layer because of their large absorption cross-sections. Therefore, the manipulation or tuning of the position, size, and shape of NPs in specific sublayers of the light-absorbing material can potentially lead to new polymer solar cells’ commercial development with desired parameters.